The European network I am coordinating will have its kick-off meeting at CERN on September 16th. This will be a short event where we give a sort of "orientation" to the participants, in terms of who we are, what we have to deliver, how we plan to do it. It is not a redundant proposition, as the AMVA4NewPhysics programme is quite varied: it includes two big experiments (ATLAS and CMS), plus two Statistics institutes, and several industrial partners; it will organize workshops in statistics, outreach, soft skills, and software tools such as MatLab, RooStats, Madgraph; and it will send our 10 students flying around like businessmen.
While I am at it, let me remind you that if you know somebody who recently (4 years) graduated in a scientific discipline, you should mention to them the post-lauream positions we are opening within the network: these are very well-paid (50k euro/y) 3-year positions to work at data analysis and development of statistical learning tools for particle physics searches and measurements. A PhD is the typical, but not required, result of the internship. Details are available at the networks' site.
While I finalize my slides for the event, I am already thinking at the next meeting, which will be a thicker one and will take place in Italy, organized mainly by my node (INFN). I am caressing the idea of holding it in a truly enchanting place, and in coincidence with a cultural/artistic event. For now I can only share a pic of the room where I would like to have the workshop and a public conference (with music) take place: the "sala della musica", a room devoted to music in Ca' Sagredo, a beautiful hotel on a 600-year-old palace on the Grand Canal, in Venice.
So wish me good luck, as organizing these kind of things is by no means easy, nor is it my bread and butter....
